I Should Write A Song About This

I'm not tired at all! And I'm craving chocolate, which is a terrible combination. But, in other news, the Forrest Gump Suite by Alan Silvestri is really good! 80's movies had good soundtracks, despite the hair and the general foul-mouth-ed-ness. Also, Sarah Chang will be playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons in my city soon...

Speaking of music (I do a lot of that, don't I?), check out this song. It's got an interesting history.
You can download the mp3 for free!

Weekend(s) II

I thought I had this published, but it seems I didn't...so, the week before last weekend (does this sound familiar?) was especially enjoyable. So this is from the last weekend in October.

On Friday I went to the zoo with Heather D., her children, and the children from another family in church. I touched a stingray! Several, actually! Their skin is remarkably soft. The lion roared for us, too :-D God's creation is so amazing. He is truly the Creator, the only one, and the epitome of creativeness. This struck me yet again at the zoo. Everything from cheetahs to glow-in-the-dark scorpions to giant octopi. What hasn't he created? And there are worlds out there full of his imagination that would terrify us! It makes me want to create by imitating him more than ever, though I know I can but cheaply imitate him.

Later, I went to the last boot camp of the preseason and studied all the kids that will make up the future of my team. I like it. I think it's a good mix, and I'm excited about next season (especially epee...I think I picked up a few converts :D )

After THAT I ran around like a madwoman to get ready for yet ANOTHER SYMPHONIC CONCERT! I wore my mother's school dance outfit of the 70's: black velvet vest, black velvet pencil skirt, a collared, button-down shirt that had renaissance sleeves, and my elvish necklace. Though it's hard to walk in, I love this outfit and rarely wear it. Dad looked at me and said, "The last time I saw that get-up your Mom was wearing it." Way cool! I also found out that my paternal grandfather always wanted to see me in black velvet. Interesting.

This time I went to go hear several choral pieces by Bach and Beethoven's 5th symphony with John and Katie (we switched brothers ;-)). There was one fly in the soup: The trolley was late so I barely got there in time for the start of the concert. But after that things went swimmingly. I've rarely enjoyed any concert as much as that one. Afterwards John showed us around the Chem-E computer lab in the basement of Benedum while we talked about school and futures and stuff like that. Then we went to Fuel and Fuddle for my first time. I got woodchuck draft cider and we all shared a really good pizza that had blue cheese on it.

On Sunday I mixed the sound for church service. I tried SO HARD to keep it under 90 dB, and suceeded most of the time. However, I didn't have to sacrifice anything to keep it so low! The guitars and piano really clicked, so I could push the electric guitar in a way I've never felt the freedom to do without expecting complaints. Normally it's just acoustic and piano...and though I "featured" certain instruments for certain songs, I never had to blank one or the other because they clashed. It was so fun. I kept chuckling during worship because it is so fun to just play with the instruments...something I've never done before to that extent.

There were many, many more events...but at this time, my memory fails me. I shall write more as it comes to mind!

Weekend(s)

Last weekend was amazing. In many ways.

On Friday I took my cousins to the Science Center and we ran around and had fun. The guy who took us through the subway saw the 3 of us coming, and asked "do you have a chaperone?"
"Yep! That's me!" I say, trying not to sound dubious.
"Oh. How old are you?"
"I'm 21." responds I, starting to wonder.
"Hm. Uh, OK."
My cousin pipes up, "how old do you think she is?"
I cringe.
"Um, around 14 I would have guessed," he responds. Heh!
Later on, I dropped something on the bus, and a man hands it to my other cousin. "Here, I think your mom dropped this." Oh dear! A 14-year-old mother of two! Who are in their double-digits!! Hahahahahaaa...

On Saturday Dan, Katie and I went to a symphonic concert featuring Richard Strauss' Don Quixote and De Falla's Master Peter’s Puppet Show which is apparently a scene from the story of Don Quixote. Dan was the only one who had read the book, so he probably enjoyed it more than Katie and I, but I still really, really enjoyed it. The best part of the puppet show was the little kid who announced what was going to happen in the next puppet scene...he was a life-sized puppet who was controlled by someone who sat on a rolling stool. One hand controlled the puppet's mouth, one hand was the puppet's hand, and both feet were the puppet's feet. He was so adorable!!

On Sunday I had my first latte...it was a caramel latte at Eat'n'Park. I added sugar, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible for me to drink it. Dan finished it for me...I think it's the last latte I have for the forseeable future. The flavor wasn't too bad, but there was way too much sugar in there, and I don't like caffeine anyway. My pastor began a series on Heaven, and here follows the summary: He preached on 1 Peter 1:3-9.

• When you can't see your goal, it is so easy to give up. But since we don't know where the "finish line" is, then we must press on, believing that God will sustain us until we reach it.
• Why keep an eye on eternity?
  
• The result is inexpressible joy
• Trials come to test my faith and it may be hard to see the end result, but RESIST TEMPTATION and inexpressible joy will come by remembering eternity.
• The outcome of my faith is the salvation of my soul.
• God does the action in these verses: keeping, guarding, etc.
• 3 truths to focus on:

1. God caused me to be born again
1. Treasure the work Christ has done
2. Ephesians 2:5 plus a whole list of verses I missed...something in II Corinthians and Matthew 11...or maybe it was Matthew 16
   
1. God is doing all the work here!
2. How did Peter answer Jesus' question "Who do you say I am?" Remember Jesus' response-Peter's knowledge was not of his own doing
2. verse 4-God is keeping an inheritance for me
1. What do I see in the future? Is heaven good?
3. I didn't write this one down.....I must have left...?

• At this point I had an idea for a dance that might be applicable to the series, having to do with personal devotions being a taste of heaven. I mentioned it to Mr. Pierson and we'll see if the idea goes anywhere. I'm glad I mentioned it, even if we never dance the piece.